A big tip for new players is to always remember to wait till the last possible second to cast a spell. if you have a creature you can play in your first main phase but it won't do anything else this turn, instead go through combat and do whatever else you wanted to do. This way you hold up more mana for longer, bluffing your opponent into thinking you have something, and could get more damage through than you may have otherwise. If you played the creature first and then attacked, you'd have no mana open and your opponent is more aware of what you're capable of. Same applies to non-creatures too. Say you have a burn spell like Lightning Strike and your opponent has a 2/2. You could kill it now, but why not wait till their turn. You pass turn and they play a 3/3, suddenly now your lightning bolt has a more valuable target to kill that you wouldn't have been able to take out if you had played it early on your own turn.
@@dyciefisk2535 I would never stoop so low as to counterspell! I am offended you would suggest such a preposterous proposition! How prodigiously pretentious of you! GOOD DAY, GOOD SIR!
@@Crocogator yeah spark doubles are not legendary.. It's basically the most broken card ever printed lol I've seen someone with 4 heroes of dominaria out
Correction: When Richard Garfield created Magic, he didn't include the stack in the rules. If multiple spells were cast, everything just resolved at the same time. The stack was introduced later.
Yeah, I kind of wished these guys were doing a history or evolution of Magic rules rather than simply discussing their current state. For example, the current topic came about to make counterspells and the like able to have more consistent tourney rulings.
Instants and other fast effects resolved in batches, with each effect added to the batch being put in the order at a point of its controller's choosing, and everything resolving in the chosen order once both players stopped adding to the batch. But interrupts did work on a something a lot closer to a stack - an interrupt used to interrupt an interrupt resolved before the interrupt it interrupted (though multiple interruptions of the same effect resolved in player order rather than in strict reverse order). The biggest difference when the stack was introduced in 6th edition wasn't the stack itself, but dropping the interrupt concept - meaning that counterspells no longer had a privileged timing. By choosing when to add an effect to the stack, you get exactly the same timing options as with choosing where to insert an effect into a batch, making the entire change largely cosmetic as far as non-interrupts are concerned.
@@eltratzodelosintenetzos2045 Marauding Raptor + Polyraptor. Make Polyraptors until either a player concedes or the game crashes. Doesn't even win the game because there's no way out of the loop; you just keep making Polyraptors forever.
I know this is supposed to be tutorial stuff... but this episode also highlighted the reason why MtG is so much fun. LOOK at the insane things the game can pull off!
So basically the stack works like a Jojo fight where you just keep on countering each other and then countering the counter and then countering the counter's counter and them countering the counter's counter's counter and then
The Stack is simple. First in. Last out. The Stack is complicated. I fork the Lightning Bolt that you countered, how many times does Niv Mizzet trigger? I love the Stack.
I play YuGiOh, so I find Lazotep Plating example interesting. In YuGiOh, a creature becoming untargetable wont protect it from effects that have already targeted it. Its so cool how different games handle similar interactions differently
most effects in magic that target check twice: on putting them on the stack (can't do that if there aren't exactly the required amount of legal targets assigned) and on resolution (if there are no legal targets the complete spell or ability will fail to resolve including parts that might not even interact with the target).
When I used to play yugioh there was “the chain” the chain is the most similar to “the stack” in magic so I find it easy to understand especially the reverse order part .
@@feathero3 But if he switches before the Befuddle resolves, then his life is 4 and Evera is at 20 power, then Befuddle resolves, leaving him at 4 life and dropping Evera to 16 power, then the switch back happens and he goes to 16 life, while Evera goes to... Well, unless the rules have changed in a relevant way in the last 5 years or so, Evera would go to 0 power because the power setting effect of her ability would set her to 4 power, but the Befuddle's power modifying effect would modify that 4 power down to 0. The layer system is confusing sometimes. Anyway, the key point is that his life goes from 20 to 4 to 16, and is never 0.
@@rmsgrey wait. so Evera goes to 20 power, you to 4 life. Evera gets dropped to 16 power. then the last ability triggers and you go to 16 life and Evera to 4 power? or would Evera be at 0 power (original 4 minus the 4, I think this is a layers question).
@@KryXun No, that's correct. The second Evera activation resolves, setting you to 4 life and Evera to 20 life. Then befuddle resolves, lowering Evera to 16 health while you remain at 4 life. Befuddle is an instant, not an enchantment. Once the spell resolves and the power of it's target creature changes, it's effect is over. Evera's power is now 16. Then the second Evera activation resolves, setting your life to 16 and Evera's power to 4. The REAL question is does Evera's power go to 8 at the end of the turn when Befuddle's effect wears off? Also, if Befuddle WAS an enchantment, and you activated Evera once, would you die? The answers to these questions I do not know.
I've never played MTG but after watching these videos I'll be sure to check out the magic players and ask Q's next time I go to the game store for a D&D session. Thanks Extra Credits!
well sort of, they can get alot more complex, potentially infinite if done correctly, their are also cards that stop things from being added to the stack (i.e. summary dismissal), weird interactions because of different static effects that are applied to the stack, effects that use the total number of spells cast to make more spells, cascade effects, lots of counter spell effects that alter the stack, and priority to affect the order in which you can add cards to the stack.
@@Hanmacx sorry, but your wrong. The new evra ability would go on top resolving before the minus four is apllied, so you go to four and evra has 20 power. Then the other spell resolves, setting her power to 16, then you swap again and then evra would have four power and you would have 16 life. Then you go to combat damage the opponent takes four and you gain four. Activated abilities can be activated whenever you have priority, so at instant speed
The games are different. In Magic, other people are not too keen to teach you. They just play against you. In Rpgs, the best way to learn is to find a group, and learn as you go. You can always ask your DM, and usually other players want to help you too. I suggest trying Pathfinder, which is even more open to new players, and its closer to the classic system.
@@ribbitgoesthedoglastnamehe4681 assuming their interest in D&D is for the classic system and not the currently incredibly popular and vastly more accessible 5e that has been garnering positive PR and social acceptance for ttrpg players.
"And next time on Learning to Play Magic, we're going to be talking about a very different kind of stacking." "Mrow?" "No Zoey, we're going to talk about how to cheat"
Listen, it's like poker, you can play your best But you got to know when to fold your cards and take a rest And know when to hold your cards and hold your breath And hope that nobody else is stacking the deck.
If anyone is looking for a more in depth look at how the stack works look up this magic the gathering podcast called the Command Zone. They did an episode a few weeks back discussing the stack and player priority
You should have talked about holding priority. Where you can choose to hold your position to add multiple responses. I was playing EDH last night and my opponent was running a big equipment deck. He had a card that allowed equipments to transfer at flash speed. He used this to shift around an armor peice that gave hexproof. Normally no matter how many destroy spells you cast he can just respond by moving the equipment around. But I held priority so I can 2 destroy spells at the same time so there would be no moving equipment between the two instances, they had to choose which one to save.
Ok, but is there a way to tell the order of operations of each card from their class or something, or do you just have to memorise each one? I also found out that Americans use something called PEMDAS for order of operations
This is especially important information to know if you're playing with blue spells because it will help you counter you're opponent if you don't like what there trying to do at the moment.
Ngl I'm already very lost and I have no idea what is going on. All of these technical terms are being thrown around and I have no idea what they mean or I forgot.
The rotation is happening in a month but I just could not resist crafting the Naru deck mentioned here. I added in Samut Tyrant Smasher and did 48 damage in one turn.
A bit misleading to say that Richard Garfield “built Magic around the order of operations” in reference to the brilliance of the stack, considering the stack didn’t exist in Magic until the 6th edition rules revision.
The stack gets wack with cascade decks, as cascade is on cast, not entry, and if you use something with 2 instances of cascade to cascade into something that also has cascade on the first instance, the thing you cascaded into will have to cascade before the original is finished.
Wait, how can you have so many Haru Mehas? I thought you could only have 4 card with the same name in a deck? Or is copying not covered by that rule? And how would I do this in a physical game?
You would use tokens, or dice. Preferably the former. Which are cards that aren't in your deck to specifically represent things, usually creatures. They can't go into your deck and they stop existing after they leave the field.
you wouldn't use tokens here. you have 1 naru meha and 4 spark doubles out. and those doubles pretend to be naru meha and each behave as if they were her. (you use tokens for cases where the copy effect explicitly creates token copies. but that is not this case)
I'm trying to be the best at playing Vintage and this kind of thing is actually very useful. I've had things on the stack go back and forth 6 times we just counterspells.
If the mana cost of the new creature is equal to one more then the sacrificed creature and no creature was sacrificed then can you only get a one mana creature? Or does it copy from the original spell?
Copies of spells or abilities that are still on the stack get to copy any variable number that has already been set by that spell or ability. So yes, in this case the copies get to use the same mana cost as the original spell.
I'm wondering where this content leads... so far you have not convinced me to play magic. You haven't introduced the basics but already play actual game.
Try this one out. I actually got out of magic years ago so you might have to look up the card. Opponent taps land for pile of manna. I say "PAUSE" and cast "Orim's Chant" for burny burny fun. Is this legal?
Nope. I'm pretty sure that responding to a mana capacity is not legal ^^ "Mana ability: Any ability that adds mana to your mana pool. Mana abilities can be activatedabilities or triggered abilities. They don’t go on the stack when you play them-you simply get the mana immediately." Page 44 of Magic the Gathering rulebook. Yes that thing exists and is available online for free ;)
They retain priority after tapping their lands (mana abilities don't use the stack) so they can cast their spell before you get the chance to play Orim's Chant. If they wanted to play multiple non-instant spells and tapped all their land for mana before playing the first one, then, technically, you'd be able to leave them with a bunch of unused mana in their pool that would disappear harmlessly at the end of the phase, but they'd have a strong case for out-of-order sequencing and the claim that their actions are an informal shortcut for casting each spell in sequence, only tapping the lands required for each one in turn. It'd be for a judge to rule on. If they had suitable instants or abilities, they could also use them in response to your Chant and make use of the mana that way. So you can't stop them from casting whatever it is they're casting unless you play the Chant before their main phase starts - in particular, you can't catch them with their lands tapped but no spell cast. Okay, technically, it would be legal for them to tap their lands, then yield priority to you, but that would only happen if they were either trying to lose, or misinformed about the rules...
Magic used to be even more confusing. The stack only came about in Sixth Edition. Before that, there was the Batch. That's why some early MtG cards are called interrupts.
My opponent: Battle Phase, Attack Me: Mirror Force Him: Solemn Judgement Me: Salamangreat Roar Him, All monsters destroyed, LP got halfed. ... My main phase, Activate Sunlight Wolf, add Salamangreat Roar back to my hand
soooo, playing a stack, and using it against bad sportsmanship players, is better than just playing until your counter is down from 20,,, yes?... someone explain... cause, I really want to play,, I have deck ideas in mind, Im tired off whiners saying,,, "we don't play with outdated cards, we use updated decks"....I really think it doesn't matter , but, I'm not sure yet
Now, the question for the next episode is are you just going to talk about standard? Or are you going to delve into multiple formats including modern, legacy, vintage, and commander (I feel commander would be a necessity since WotC releases precon commander decks, so people may get confused if they're just getting in and are just learning to play from your videos)?
I'll be honest, the stack and deck construction are not where I would go so early in a Learn to Play Magic series. While the stack and deckbuilding are important, understanding the cards types, evergreen mechanics (trample, hexproof, etc.), and card interactions are more fundamental.
maaaaan.... i will never forget that evening at our punk-youthhouse when that green deck guy rushed me with 200 1/1 bear tokens in the 2nd turn...... fcking Llanowar elves & their abilities...! xD
Although, in that last example, if he’d had the mana, he could respond to the befuddle by activating Evra’s ability again, exchanging his life total before befuddle resolves. That would save the game, although, Evra would only hit for 4 damage
One of my favorite uses of the Stack is something I like to call a scum block (if someone has an official term for it by all means let me know). How it works is that if the opponent sends out an attack I will block with whatever I have available, and then use a spell or ability to remove that creature from the board right before the damage step, either simply putting it back in my hand or sacrificing it for a cost. Because of how Magic's phases work the enemy's attack essentially whiffs and does no damage. This is an especially good strategy decks full of creatures with trample or creatures with abilities that only activate when they damage an opponent.
If you remove a blocker before combat damage, trample damage will just go straight through to the player/planeswalker being attacked. Creatures without trample will be foiled by the creature that engaged them suddenly disappearing.
The more I learn the more REALLY don't want to play this game. The stack order seems incredibly stupid, things should work when they are played because the stack seems to serve only to make every other card played useless or grant some kind of OP combo.
Umm.. I always watched this channel for the history. My brother was a big magic player. Me... not so much. I played d&d a little but was more into the books. This just showed me like... damn, this magic game is just as intense as chess.
how long did it take for me to learn the stack only for you to condense it into a 7 minute video? well you guys did a great job the only thing I have to add is that little trick you pulled with sacrificing a 2/2 to get a bunch of 4/4 creatures would only work in a blue deck and maybe a black but not with the other colors really maybe you could emphasizes neat things to do with the stack with the other colors as well
I found a good example of using the stack. I have an artifact card that returns to my hand whenever I play an instant on my main phase, and an instant which destroys a target artifact. However, if I have no other uses for that second card, I can play it and have it target my own artifact, however, that triggers the artifact's ability sending it back to my hand before it can be destroyed.
as a new viewer, and someone who is getting back into mtg again after a while, it would have been 100% worth it to play out that combo you dedicated the last half of the video too. i like the cartoon style you go with, but to see that combo play out in arena in real time would have been much more satisfying, and would have played to the point you're making
Is it the same in commander multiplayer? Everyone has to pass 2 times? Also you can hold your priority so your opponent can respond to the last sting of the stack? Can you even play mindgames and pass priority to your opponent and then he passes and before resolving the top spell of the stack you can cast a counterspell on the card on the stack?
What's the best Magic video game for someone who's very new to the game? I see MTG Arena is linked in the description, but is that more for veterans or newcomers?
Wait... I thought the defending player can only react if something gets put onto the stack.. which doesnt happen in the mtg arena example. Man this is complicated.
I'll admit that I already knew how the stack works, but it doesn't seem like good teaching practice to over-hype the glory of a concept before you explain it. For just the basic concept all you had to say is that reactions happen first. If you need more explanation before the examples, just saying that it's more useful that way would be enough. Also, you keep just saying card names with just a pic of the card in normal view. I'm not sure how a viewer is supposed to read them or keep up with the significance of each card that way.
What kind of mistakes did you make a lot as a beginning Magic player that you'd want others to look out for?
Spent way too much money on cardboard with shitty art on them that would be obsolete after a year
A big tip for new players is to always remember to wait till the last possible second to cast a spell. if you have a creature you can play in your first main phase but it won't do anything else this turn, instead go through combat and do whatever else you wanted to do. This way you hold up more mana for longer, bluffing your opponent into thinking you have something, and could get more damage through than you may have otherwise. If you played the creature first and then attacked, you'd have no mana open and your opponent is more aware of what you're capable of.
Same applies to non-creatures too. Say you have a burn spell like Lightning Strike and your opponent has a 2/2. You could kill it now, but why not wait till their turn. You pass turn and they play a 3/3, suddenly now your lightning bolt has a more valuable target to kill that you wouldn't have been able to take out if you had played it early on your own turn.
@@kripposoft could be worse, you could spend it on hearthstone, which is just a dumbed down digital version of it.
Tower of Power Tyrannosaur, Master of the Max Deck Disaster, Too Tall to Draw Only Flaw
Zoe is hands down the best cat ever
No airhorns played. Good job guys.
I love countering counter spells
I love reanimating creatures to sac them as counterspells.
Brine Shaman, anyone?
I love vexing shusher against asshole blue
You might want to look into Gutteral Response
@@dyciefisk2535 I would never stoop so low as to counterspell! I am offended you would suggest such a preposterous proposition! How prodigiously pretentious of you! GOOD DAY, GOOD SIR!
*YUGIOH PTSD INTENSIFIES*
That Dupe Combo was some serious Heresy. I'm Calling the Detention Sphere Senate.
I summon Deputy of Detention - Banish target creature and all creatures with the same name as long as Deputy of Detention is on the field.
Are spark doubles not considered legendary after copying? I might have missed a rules change, it's been a few years.
@@Crocogator Yes, but it's part of Double's effect, rather than due to a change in rules.
@@Crocogator yeah spark doubles are not legendary.. It's basically the most broken card ever printed lol
I've seen someone with 4 heroes of dominaria out
@@Crocogator I thought that rule was only for Commander?
Correction: When Richard Garfield created Magic, he didn't include the stack in the rules. If multiple spells were cast, everything just resolved at the same time. The stack was introduced later.
Yeah, I kind of wished these guys were doing a history or evolution of Magic rules rather than simply discussing their current state. For example, the current topic came about to make counterspells and the like able to have more consistent tourney rulings.
Instants and other fast effects resolved in batches, with each effect added to the batch being put in the order at a point of its controller's choosing, and everything resolving in the chosen order once both players stopped adding to the batch.
But interrupts did work on a something a lot closer to a stack - an interrupt used to interrupt an interrupt resolved before the interrupt it interrupted (though multiple interruptions of the same effect resolved in player order rather than in strict reverse order).
The biggest difference when the stack was introduced in 6th edition wasn't the stack itself, but dropping the interrupt concept - meaning that counterspells no longer had a privileged timing. By choosing when to add an effect to the stack, you get exactly the same timing options as with choosing where to insert an effect into a batch, making the entire change largely cosmetic as far as non-interrupts are concerned.
@@DLWormwood Maybe when they are done here. Though these training videos are sponsored so who knows if they intent on making more after.
When created, there wasn't a stack, and there was a difference between instants and interrupts.
a great addition to the next episode of lies
That dupe combo is giving me horrible flashbacks to Hearthstone and Shudderwock
MY TEETH THAT BITE, MY CLAWS THAT CATCH!
MY TEETH THAT BITE, MY CLAWS THAT CATCH!
MY TEETH THAT BITE, MY CLAWS THAT CATCH!
Continue for five minutes.
for magic that one is rather tame. like sure it's a powerfull play but nowhere near what shudderwock did to hearthstone.
@@eltratzodelosintenetzos2045 and you only need a single board wipe to pretty much kill that guys game.
Welcome, you just know a mechanic that is called storm in magic
@@eltratzodelosintenetzos2045 Marauding Raptor + Polyraptor. Make Polyraptors until either a player concedes or the game crashes. Doesn't even win the game because there's no way out of the loop; you just keep making Polyraptors forever.
“This is the episode you were waiting for!” Well duh I’ve already watched episode 1 & 2.
I know this is supposed to be tutorial stuff... but this episode also highlighted the reason why MtG is so much fun. LOOK at the insane things the game can pull off!
So basically the stack works like a Jojo fight where you just keep on countering each other and then countering the counter and then countering the counter's counter and them countering the counter's counter's counter and then
From what I understand, yes.
In multiplayer formats mabye, however mana runs out fast in blue and that can stop those chains of counterspells in 1v1 pretty damn fast.
Or if you have a card named counterflux (I think) you just counter everything not from you
@@placeholderplaceholder6056 The longest counterspell chain I've had was 5
@@Nuclearburrit0 Who came out on top?
This is the series I never knew I wanted! I’ve never known how to approach Magic but this is great and now I might get started playing.
Don't play standard at fnm, It's a complete shitshow of people throwing turbo fog at you.
I'd like to quote a saying I've heard arround the Magic comunity.
"Teach your kids to play Magic. They'll be too poor to afford drugs"
I'd love to play against you sometime!
The Stack is simple. First in. Last out. The Stack is complicated. I fork the Lightning Bolt that you countered, how many times does Niv Mizzet trigger?
I love the Stack.
Three, assuming that's all that happened. And that you're talking about the newest version of Niv-Mizzet.
Yep 3, a countered spell still triggers every legal cast trigger. Goddam storm.
The stack is just like the chain in yugioh right?
Each card links to the chain and the resolution occurs in reverse to how the chain was linked
Max Rochester kinda, the chain depends on your opponent playing something before you can, you can add to the stack as much as you want/can
I play YuGiOh, so I find Lazotep Plating example interesting.
In YuGiOh, a creature becoming untargetable wont protect it from effects that have already targeted it.
Its so cool how different games handle similar interactions differently
most effects in magic that target check twice: on putting them on the stack (can't do that if there aren't exactly the required amount of legal targets assigned) and on resolution (if there are no legal targets the complete spell or ability will fail to resolve including parts that might not even interact with the target).
Also another confusing thing is if a card effect targets or not. Like how Tiramisu can bypass Obelelisk's Immunity because the effect doesn't target.
When I used to play yugioh there was “the chain” the chain is the most similar to “the stack” in magic so I find it easy to understand especially the reverse order part .
If you just had one more mana you could have activated Evera again in response to save yourself
"One more mana and I would have won" - The MTG player mantra.
Wouldn't he instantly lose at 0 though? So he can't switch again while at 0 Life?
@@feathero3 But if he switches before the Befuddle resolves, then his life is 4 and Evera is at 20 power, then Befuddle resolves, leaving him at 4 life and dropping Evera to 16 power, then the switch back happens and he goes to 16 life, while Evera goes to... Well, unless the rules have changed in a relevant way in the last 5 years or so, Evera would go to 0 power because the power setting effect of her ability would set her to 4 power, but the Befuddle's power modifying effect would modify that 4 power down to 0.
The layer system is confusing sometimes.
Anyway, the key point is that his life goes from 20 to 4 to 16, and is never 0.
@@rmsgrey wait. so Evera goes to 20 power, you to 4 life. Evera gets dropped to 16 power. then the last ability triggers and you go to 16 life and Evera to 4 power? or would Evera be at 0 power (original 4 minus the 4, I think this is a layers question).
@@KryXun No, that's correct. The second Evera activation resolves, setting you to 4 life and Evera to 20 life. Then befuddle resolves, lowering Evera to 16 health while you remain at 4 life. Befuddle is an instant, not an enchantment. Once the spell resolves and the power of it's target creature changes, it's effect is over. Evera's power is now 16. Then the second Evera activation resolves, setting your life to 16 and Evera's power to 4.
The REAL question is does Evera's power go to 8 at the end of the turn when Befuddle's effect wears off? Also, if Befuddle WAS an enchantment, and you activated Evera once, would you die? The answers to these questions I do not know.
Right, right right. The stack is nice and all, but what I really want to see you explain is state-based actions.
Tesskr95 You don’t want their pocket judge to have a mental breakdown now, do you?
7:00 As we can seem Zoey is unquestionably the most important member of the Extra Credits team.
I've never played MTG but after watching these videos I'll be sure to check out the magic players and ask Q's next time I go to the game store for a D&D session. Thanks Extra Credits!
So, Stacks are like chains from yugioh right? If so then they must be a pretty simple concept to understand right?
well sort of, they can get alot more complex, potentially infinite if done correctly, their are also cards that stop things from being added to the stack (i.e. summary dismissal), weird interactions because of different static effects that are applied to the stack, effects that use the total number of spells cast to make more spells, cascade effects, lots of counter spell effects that alter the stack, and priority to affect the order in which you can add cards to the stack.
The rules to magic are surprisingly simple and intuitive. It's in the finer points of their execution that the game becomes complex.
@@AE149823 Magic requires constant errata from all the new cards they produce. Another good word for its rules is "intricate"
@@GScottActing magic does not require constant errata. new mechanics sure, but they rarely errata cards.
@@galenrichter41 Sorry, I mean *rules* errata
Good thing this video doesn't have to discribe the system Richard Garfield actually made when magic first came out. The Batch system is not missed.
You should switch the colors on the hat for the magic colors in the Animation. Just for this series
i would very much like to see a series on the lore of magic
I'm wondering how far this series will go, like are you guys gonna talk about priority? or layers?
If you activated evra again you would have survived, unfortunately you don't have the mana
No because the swap is still on the stack
And even if you swap twice, you lose in between
@@Hanmacx sorry, but your wrong. The new evra ability would go on top resolving before the minus four is apllied, so you go to four and evra has 20 power. Then the other spell resolves, setting her power to 16, then you swap again and then evra would have four power and you would have 16 life. Then you go to combat damage the opponent takes four and you gain four. Activated abilities can be activated whenever you have priority, so at instant speed
I was waiting for Learning to Play D&D #1
depending on the edition, that will either be a 4 episode series, or a 40 episode one.
The games are different. In Magic, other people are not too keen to teach you. They just play against you. In Rpgs, the best way to learn is to find a group, and learn as you go. You can always ask your DM, and usually other players want to help you too.
I suggest trying Pathfinder, which is even more open to new players, and its closer to the classic system.
@@ribbitgoesthedoglastnamehe4681 assuming their interest in D&D is for the classic system and not the currently incredibly popular and vastly more accessible 5e that has been garnering positive PR and social acceptance for ttrpg players.
I won a game with that exact interaction from the intro. Opponent had lethal without doing the swap too.
Live by the BM die by the BM
"And next time on Learning to Play Magic, we're going to be talking about a very different kind of stacking."
"Mrow?"
"No Zoey, we're going to talk about how to cheat"
Listen, it's like poker, you can play your best
But you got to know when to fold your cards and take a rest
And know when to hold your cards and hold your breath
And hope that nobody else is stacking the deck.
These episodes have amazing art! I loved the depictions of the color mages in Episode 2 :)
If anyone is looking for a more in depth look at how the stack works look up this magic the gathering podcast called the Command Zone. They did an episode a few weeks back discussing the stack and player priority
And for seeing magic at it's most primal, cards that make a cool interaction
You should have talked about holding priority. Where you can choose to hold your position to add multiple responses.
I was playing EDH last night and my opponent was running a big equipment deck. He had a card that allowed equipments to transfer at flash speed. He used this to shift around an armor peice that gave hexproof.
Normally no matter how many destroy spells you cast he can just respond by moving the equipment around. But I held priority so I can 2 destroy spells at the same time so there would be no moving equipment between the two instances, they had to choose which one to save.
Are you going to cover 100-card Commander decks as well, or just the normal 60-card deck?
Ok, but is there a way to tell the order of operations of each card from their class or something, or do you just have to memorise each one?
I also found out that Americans use something called PEMDAS for order of operations
@@jebblottin92 I saw that yeah, it's just that the UK uses BODMAS: Brackets, Orders, Division, Multiplication, Addition Subtraction.
All non-land cards go on the stack when you cast them. Instants and cards with the ability Flash are able to be cast anytime a player has priority.
They go in order based on the order they were cast, the kind of card they are is irrelevant.
Learning stack as a returning Magic player: Nice.
Watching Zoey at the end earned my thumbs up tho. So cute.
Same here. I also own a Blackcat.
This is especially important information to know if you're playing with blue spells because
it will help you counter you're opponent if you don't like what there trying to do at the moment.
Ngl I'm already very lost and I have no idea what is going on. All of these technical terms are being thrown around and I have no idea what they mean or I forgot.
But they showed visual examples. What did you not understand?
The rotation is happening in a month but I just could not resist crafting the Naru deck mentioned here. I added in Samut Tyrant Smasher and did 48 damage in one turn.
Now add split second, storm and couple of other mechanics and cards that mess/care about stack and we have fun times
The stack... I have failed to teach this so many times.
If they understand this, priority takes them out of it again.
A bit misleading to say that Richard Garfield “built Magic around the order of operations” in reference to the brilliance of the stack, considering the stack didn’t exist in Magic until the 6th edition rules revision.
I'm getting Splinter Twin flashbacks from this episode.
zoey: *plays Befuddle*
*Casting*; Power word: Kill
The stack gets wack with cascade decks, as cascade is on cast, not entry, and if you use something with 2 instances of cascade to cascade into something that also has cascade on the first instance, the thing you cascaded into will have to cascade before the original is finished.
This is really helpful, I've always wanted to learn how to play Magic the Gathering.
Wait, how can you have so many Haru Mehas? I thought you could only have 4 card with the same name in a deck? Or is copying not covered by that rule? And how would I do this in a physical game?
Yes four copy of haru and four of double spark. Double spark is card that copy's
You would use tokens, or dice. Preferably the former. Which are cards that aren't in your deck to specifically represent things, usually creatures. They can't go into your deck and they stop existing after they leave the field.
you wouldn't use tokens here. you have 1 naru meha and 4 spark doubles out. and those doubles pretend to be naru meha and each behave as if they were her. (you use tokens for cases where the copy effect explicitly creates token copies. but that is not this case)
I'm trying to be the best at playing Vintage and this kind of thing is actually very useful. I've had things on the stack go back and forth 6 times we just counterspells.
Did not mention the stack exception: mana effects.
Also Morph triggers, the Split Second Keyword and the card Timestop.
Been playing for years and this is a great breakdown to keep in my back pocket for new players
I wish they used a average commander game instead of only using MTGA as a example. in commander stacks can get pretty wild
Then you overload a counterflux and they get really simple. :V
or just Time Stop. no recursion from the yard and no can't be countered to worry about.
If the mana cost of the new creature is equal to one more then the sacrificed creature and no creature was sacrificed then can you only get a one mana creature? Or does it copy from the original spell?
Copies of spells or abilities that are still on the stack get to copy any variable number that has already been set by that spell or ability. So yes, in this case the copies get to use the same mana cost as the original spell.
Back in my days, we had interrupt spells, and they were beautiful!
Not sure I can go back to current magic, been playing Shandalar.
Yall got me into magic arena online/adicted to... Thanks ive been playing soo much of this
Hearthstone players: Shadow essence into Archmage Vargoth...
Finally! Now I can make friends with the cool kids in college.
I'm really happy these videos started coming out right after I got back into MTG
In responce i counter your video
I dispel your counter
@@Nuclearburrit0 Last Word
I'm wondering where this content leads... so far you have not convinced me to play magic. You haven't introduced the basics but already play actual game.
I really want to get into magic now 😄
Befuddling evra’s ability. Thats sooooo good
As a Yu-gi-oh player, I saw that dupe combo and had flashbacks of Frog Control at full power.
still awiting the colorless mana and creature video
That’s not relevant for beginners.
Try this one out. I actually got out of magic years ago so you might have to look up the card.
Opponent taps land for pile of manna. I say "PAUSE" and cast "Orim's Chant" for burny burny fun.
Is this legal?
Nope. I'm pretty sure that responding to a mana capacity is not legal ^^
"Mana ability: Any ability that adds mana to your mana pool. Mana abilities can be activatedabilities or triggered abilities. They don’t go on the stack when you play them-you simply get the mana immediately."
Page 44 of Magic the Gathering rulebook. Yes that thing exists and is available online for free ;)
Oh, also, mana burn was removed from the rules about ten years ago.
They retain priority after tapping their lands (mana abilities don't use the stack) so they can cast their spell before you get the chance to play Orim's Chant.
If they wanted to play multiple non-instant spells and tapped all their land for mana before playing the first one, then, technically, you'd be able to leave them with a bunch of unused mana in their pool that would disappear harmlessly at the end of the phase, but they'd have a strong case for out-of-order sequencing and the claim that their actions are an informal shortcut for casting each spell in sequence, only tapping the lands required for each one in turn. It'd be for a judge to rule on.
If they had suitable instants or abilities, they could also use them in response to your Chant and make use of the mana that way.
So you can't stop them from casting whatever it is they're casting unless you play the Chant before their main phase starts - in particular, you can't catch them with their lands tapped but no spell cast.
Okay, technically, it would be legal for them to tap their lands, then yield priority to you, but that would only happen if they were either trying to lose, or misinformed about the rules...
Normally I play commander, but that simic Naru Spark Double deck sounds fun as hell.
Mostly for the controller of the deck I presume :p
yes, most pro decks love stack triggers
Zoe's the master
When's the episode on Layers 😃
~(^-^)~ - Spaghetti Legs!
Useful info to start Magic but I don't like the untrustworthy overselling of the game ^^'
Magic used to be even more confusing. The stack only came about in Sixth Edition. Before that, there was the Batch. That's why some early MtG cards are called interrupts.
loved ur outtake...
Can you guyscover the story of Vlad Țepeş ?
You want stacks, we got stacks...in Forth. :)
My opponent: Battle Phase, Attack
Me: Mirror Force
Him: Solemn Judgement
Me: Salamangreat Roar
Him, All monsters destroyed, LP got halfed.
...
My main phase, Activate Sunlight Wolf, add Salamangreat Roar back to my hand
soooo, playing a stack, and using it against bad sportsmanship players, is better than just playing until your counter is down from 20,,, yes?... someone explain... cause, I really want to play,, I have deck ideas in mind, Im tired off whiners saying,,, "we don't play with outdated cards, we use updated decks"....I really think it doesn't matter , but, I'm not sure yet
kitty SO CUTE
Now, the question for the next episode is are you just going to talk about standard? Or are you going to delve into multiple formats including modern, legacy, vintage, and commander (I feel commander would be a necessity since WotC releases precon commander decks, so people may get confused if they're just getting in and are just learning to play from your videos)?
I'll be honest, the stack and deck construction are not where I would go so early in a Learn to Play Magic series. While the stack and deckbuilding are important, understanding the cards types, evergreen mechanics (trample, hexproof, etc.), and card interactions are more fundamental.
maaaaan.... i will never forget that evening at our punk-youthhouse when that green deck guy rushed me with 200 1/1 bear tokens in the 2nd turn...... fcking Llanowar elves & their abilities...! xD
Although, in that last example, if he’d had the mana, he could respond to the befuddle by activating Evra’s ability again, exchanging his life total before befuddle resolves. That would save the game, although, Evra would only hit for 4 damage
One of my favorite uses of the Stack is something I like to call a scum block (if someone has an official term for it by all means let me know). How it works is that if the opponent sends out an attack I will block with whatever I have available, and then use a spell or ability to remove that creature from the board right before the damage step, either simply putting it back in my hand or sacrificing it for a cost. Because of how Magic's phases work the enemy's attack essentially whiffs and does no damage.
This is an especially good strategy decks full of creatures with trample or creatures with abilities that only activate when they damage an opponent.
If you remove a blocker before combat damage, trample damage will just go straight through to the player/planeswalker being attacked. Creatures without trample will be foiled by the creature that engaged them suddenly disappearing.
I think what you thinking of is lifelink no def= no damage =no life gained
The more I learn the more REALLY don't want to play this game. The stack order seems incredibly stupid, things should work when they are played because the stack seems to serve only to make every other card played useless or grant some kind of OP combo.
0:22-0:23 my favorite part.
Umm.. I always watched this channel for the history. My brother was a big magic player. Me... not so much. I played d&d a little but was more into the books. This just showed me like... damn, this magic game is just as intense as chess.
how long did it take for me to learn the stack only for you to condense it into a 7 minute video? well you guys did a great job the only thing I have to add is that little trick you pulled with sacrificing a 2/2 to get a bunch of 4/4 creatures would only work in a blue deck and maybe a black but not with the other colors really maybe you could emphasizes neat things to do with the stack with the other colors as well
I found a good example of using the stack.
I have an artifact card that returns to my hand whenever I play an instant on my main phase, and an instant which destroys a target artifact. However, if I have no other uses for that second card, I can play it and have it target my own artifact, however, that triggers the artifact's ability sending it back to my hand before it can be destroyed.
as a new viewer, and someone who is getting back into mtg again after a while, it would have been 100% worth it to play out that combo you dedicated the last half of the video too. i like the cartoon style you go with, but to see that combo play out in arena in real time would have been much more satisfying, and would have played to the point you're making
Is it the same in commander multiplayer? Everyone has to pass 2 times? Also you can hold your priority so your opponent can respond to the last sting of the stack? Can you even play mindgames and pass priority to your opponent and then he passes and before resolving the top spell of the stack you can cast a counterspell on the card on the stack?
Surprised you didn’t slide in the legendary rule with that combo at the end.
What's the best Magic video game for someone who's very new to the game? I see MTG Arena is linked in the description, but is that more for veterans or newcomers?
Wait... I thought the defending player can only react if something gets put onto the stack.. which doesnt happen in the mtg arena example. Man this is complicated.
How the hell is destroy all creatures supposed to target my hexproof creature? This has happened in Arena. Is that how it actually works or wtf?
Yeah, the stack can become bs too. Watching someone block with a creature, sacrifice said creature, and still have the block go through hurts my soul
Now you made me want to build that neoform copy stuff deck. I was going to sleep, but now I can’t. I hope you’re happy 🤣
When are they gonna get to the episode about Layers and Time Stamps? I wanna see Zoey put an Opalescence and Humility on the field!
I'll admit that I already knew how the stack works, but it doesn't seem like good teaching practice to over-hype the glory of a concept before you explain it. For just the basic concept all you had to say is that reactions happen first. If you need more explanation before the examples, just saying that it's more useful that way would be enough.
Also, you keep just saying card names with just a pic of the card in normal view. I'm not sure how a viewer is supposed to read them or keep up with the significance of each card that way.
Waiting for August to happen so I can buy the Arena. Or at least something in it. I don't have a lot of money, but I want to learn.
2:47 for fellow yugioh player, in mtg gaining protection from target mid stack mean getting immunity.
Because in yugioh thats not the case
So basically, learn the order of operations for game? 👌Ok
So can you play new cards in the stack after something resolves, or does that only apply to trigger effects?
Or you could just sacrifice your wanderer to ASHNOD'S ALTAR.
The set of duplicating actions makes it apparent how the game's rules could be Turing Complete.
You going to do one of these for Yugioh?
This isn't really that hard; but no one explained it to me and I just wanted to know how it worked.